Log in

Sports

Super Bowl matchup features No. 1 seeds Seahawks, Broncos

MCT

Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman knocks the ball away from 49ers wide receiver Michael Crabtree, resulting in an interception by linebacker Malcolm Smith near the end of the NFC championship game in Seattle on Sunday.

Green Bay — It'll be the National Football League's top defensive team against its top offensive team Feb. 2, when the 48th Super Bowl kicks off at MetLife Stadium in the New Jersey wastelands just outside New York City.

Oddsmakers were torn between the Seattle Seahawks, 15-3 and the No. 1-seeded team in the NFC playoffs, and the Denver Broncos, 15-3 and the No. 1-seeded team in the AFC field.

Probably the consensus among the sports books in Las Vegas Sunday night was calling the game a pick 'em.

Ron Wolf and Charley Armey, a pair of Super Bowl-winning general managers in the 1990s, both favored Seattle in interviews shortly after the Seahawks defeated San Francisco, 23-17, in the NFC Championship Game.

Earlier, the Broncos downed New England, 26-16, to win the AFC crown. Wolf made it clear he was taking the Seahawks because he gave 42-year-old John Schneider, their general manager, his first NFL job in January 1994 as a scouting assistant for the Green Bay Packers.

"I'm delighted for John Schneider, obviously, and the job he did at Seattle," Wolf said from Florida. "I think it's interesting that really that's (Seahawks top scout) Scot McCloughan's team basically in San Francisco.

"I'm rooting for John Schneider. I also worked with Pete Carroll with the Jets. I'm taking them to win the game because I'm a fan now."

Wolf was calling the shots when the Packers beat New England in the 31st Super Bowl. Armey was GM of the St. Louis Rams when they held off Tennessee in the 34th Super Bowl.

"You can never count Peyton Manning out, but I really do think the difference will be the Seattle defense and the running back," Armey said, referring to Marshawn Lynch. "I'd see it like 27-23, Seattle."

Speaking from Arizona, Armey thinks the Seattle secondary featuring three Pro Bowl players together with a stiff pass rush will limit Denver.

"If you look at the times Peyton had problems this year, like the game against the Colts (Oct. 20), they rushed him," said Armey. "He hasn't been rushed by anybody like he's going to get rushed by Seattle. That will be a big factor.

"It will be real hard for Denver to mount any kind of a running game. So they're going to have to rely completely, 100%, on Peyton, and the secondary from Seattle is really good.

"They can cover you and force you to hold the ball a little longer. Then you make mistakes."

Wolf said Manning remained a "very good performer" at 37 but said he also was impressed by the Seattle defense.

"I wouldn't discount anything he could do," said Wolf. "But that defense has proven how good it is. I'm sure a lot of people thought they could do a lot of different things to it and they haven't been able to.

"Theory says defense should win that game. But the fact you can't touch anybody anymore on defense probably refutes that, doesn't it? Depends whether the officials let them play or not."

The Super Bowl referee will be Terry McAulay.

Opposing Manning will be Russell Wilson, the third-year man who led Wisconsin to the Rose Bowl in his one season as a Badger. He's 25.

"What's amazing to me is nothing psychologically is too big for this kid," Armey said. "He rises to the occasion.

"He can stumble and stumble along, but when he has to make a play, he makes the play. Just because he's cool-headed. The game's not too big for him."

Wolf said the edge on offense would go to Denver. He then added, "But that Lynch is an amazing football player."

Said Armey: "He will give Denver fits. He'll have a big night. He's got great instincts and then power to spare.

"Denver's defense is solid. I don't think they're a great defense. You can run the ball on them, and I definitely know you can pass the ball on them. Seattle matches up very well offensively the way they can run the football."

Because of Seattle's shifting lineup up front, Wolf said Seahawks offensive line coach Tom Cable "must be a magician."

Armey attributed some of Wilson's late-season struggles to his line.

"But he seems to be able to overcome it," Armey said. "That could be a problem for Seattle, but I don't think Denver's front is good enough to take advantage of it. Denver's front isn't nearly as good as San Francisco's. Not even close."

About Bob McGinn

Bob McGinn is a beat writer and columnist covering the Green Bay Packers. A six-time Wisconsin state sportswriter of the year, he won the Dick McCann Memorial Award in 2011 for long and distinguished reporting on pro football.